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The article cited below reported on the second phase of an asbestos outreach project in a former asbestos mining town in the northeast of Brazil. The results of a screening project organized in 2024 by the Public Ministry of Labor, the Brazilian Association of Asbestos Exposed and the Association of Asbestos-Contaminated Victims and Exposed Families showed that of the 584 people evaluated: 66 were diagnosed with one or more asbestos-related diseases; 30% of participants reported occupational exposures to asbestos; 70% reported environmental exposures. See: Estudo revela impactos do amianto na saúde da população do sudoeste baiano – MPT-BA [Study reveals impacts of asbestos on the health of the population of southwestern Bahia – MPT-BA].

Concerns over asbestos contamination following massive earthquakes in Turkey in 2023 have risen to new levels. Findings just reported from research undertaken in May 2024 show that airborne asbestos levels in earthquake areas “were well above the respirable fiber concentration limits determined by the United Nations World Health Organization in 1998.” Safety measures which were recommended by the researchers included: the use of wet working methods, isolation of demolition areas and the use of personal protective equipment by workers. See: Bir il deprem sonrası alarm verdi: Tehlike seviyelerine ulaştı [Province sounds alarm over aftermath of earthquake: danger levels reached].

This year Sokcho City, in the northeast of Gangwon Province, South Korea, allocated financial resources for the removal of asbestos-cement roofing from 87 buildings, including 81 residential and 6 commercial properties. Eligible property owners must apply to the municipality for grants of up to 2.32m won (US$ 2,380). According to the official press release: “The purpose of this project is to prevent health damage caused by asbestos exposure by supporting the cost of demolition and disposal of old asbestos-cement roofs…” See: 속초시, 2025년도 슬레이트 처리 지원사업 추진 [Sokcho City Promotes 2025 Slate Processing Support].

Plans by James Hardie (JH), Australia’s one-time asbestos giant, to merge with the US outdoor decking group Azek, are under investigation by the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia. JH is notorious for its efforts to off-load financial liabilities for the damage it has done. After years of dispute with the Australian government, a multibillion dollar compensation fund was set up to ensure that damages would be paid to the injured. Given JH’s relocation to Holland, Ireland and the US, the distrust expressed by the ADSA’s CEO Melita Markey is understandable: “We will need some very strong assurances that all of that [the compensation fund] will remain as it is.” See [subscription site]: Asbestos victims want compensation assurances from James Hardie.

Following asbestos tests carried out in 2024 at the Cultural Center of the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C., high levels of airborne asbestos fibers were found. This month, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved an emergency budget of $155,646 for specialist contractors to remove asbestos from the Center “to prevent the continued deterioration of the areas and an increase in the airborne concentration.” Last month, the Association of Spanish Diplomats denounced “the poor condition” of many of Spain’s embassies and consulates, saying they posed “a serious risk to both the people who work there and the public who visit them.” See: More than €144,000 to remove asbestos from the Cultural Center of Embassy in the US.

Personnel from the Korea Asbestos Safety Association, a non-profit asbestos specialist corporation operating under the Ministry of Environment, continue to play an important role in assisting emergency workers at premises damaged by recent wildfires in Yeongdeok-gun county in South Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province. In a statement by Yeongdeok County Governor Kim Gwang-yeol, he explained: “Based on the association’s expertise, the investigation into dangerous and difficult asbestos-cement structures is proceeding quickly, which is a great help in the subsequent demolition and restoration work. See: 한국석면안전협회, 영덕군 산불 피해 복구 지원 [Korea Asbestos Safety Association, Yeongdeok-gun wildfire damage recovery support].

India’s Education Ministry banned the use of asbestos in schools as a precautionary measure to protect students and staff from exposures to a carcinogenic substance. Commenting on the prohibition, Minister of State for Education, Jayant Singh Chaudhary said: “I hope this starts a movement to gradually phase out asbestos use throughout the country and we build a healthier and cancer-free nation for our children.” Asbestos-cement roofing has been widely used on public as well as private buildings throughout India. Its use has also been banned at railway stations. Data collected from 83 Indian hospitals identified 2,213 cases of the signature asbestos cancer mesothelioma between 2012 and 2022. See: Exclusive | Education Ministry Issues Ban On Using Asbestos In KVs And JNV.

Evidence submitted on March 24, 2025 to a Parliamentary hearing on the legacy of Cape Intermediate Holdings (Cape Asbestos) conducted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health is now online. The testimony now available includes comments by: trade unions: NEU and NASUWT; victims’ campaigners: the Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum, John Flanagan, Nevyn Stevenson; experts: Dr Robin Rudd, Professor Peter Szlozarek, Chris Chambers, Peter Gartside, Sarah Lyons and Harminder Bains. A full transcript of the meeting is also accessible. See: Evidence: Public hearing on legacy of Cape asbestos.

The April 6, 2025 article cited below highlighted the environmental contamination caused by asbestos liberated during recent wildfires in Korea’s Gyeongbuk Province. According to a new report by the Environmental Health Citizens' Center and the Korea Asbestos Eradication Network: “most of the houses and warehouses destroyed by the wildfire had cement roofs containing asbestos, and it is highly likely that a large amount of asbestos dust was scattered in the air when they burned… This means that demolition workers, volunteers involved in restoration work, and even evacuees could be exposed.” See: 경북 북동부 산불 폐기물…“처리 비용만 1500억 이상” [Wildfire waste in northeastern Gyeongbuk Province... “The disposal cost alone is more than 150 billion”].

Just a handful of the thousands of UK victims who contract asbestos-related lung cancer every year receive support or compensation for their injuries. This dichotomy between their treatment and that of sufferers of mesothelioma, the signature asbestos cancer, was the focus of comments made by Solicitor Daniel Easton in a recent blog. “There is,” he wrote “no justifiable reason why sufferers of asbestos-related lung cancer should not receive the same support from the law as those who have mesothelioma.” See: Blog: Time to treat victims of workplace asbestos cancers fairly.

A prestigious medical grant of A$100,000 has been received by West Australian researcher Dr Alistair Cook to “investigate how low-dose radiotherapy can improve immunotherapy outcomes, with potential benefits for patients who don’t currently respond to treatment” including those with the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. The grant will be used to support a project which will, Dr Cook said, “help us understand how broadly applicable our treatment is, and can take us one step closer to running a clinical trial in people with not only mesothelioma, but a wider range of tumours that are currently hard to treat.” See: Boosting immunotherapy: NCARD researcher receives Tour de Cure grant.

Asbestos training has begun in Balıkesir, a city in the Marmara region of Turkey for scores of operatives working for the Balıkesir Water and Sewerage Administration (BASKI) who are involved with the replacement of deteriorating and end-of-life asbestos-containing pipes. To date, BASKI employees from the Bandırma and Edremit districts have taken part in the asbestos removal training program under the supervision of the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. See: BASKİ’den personeline asbest söküm eğitimi [Asbestos removal training for BASKI personnel].

The excellent commentary cited below explored the consequences of South Africa’s asbestos legacy. Between 1910 and 2002, 10 million+ tons of asbestos was produced at various chrysotile (white), crocidolite (blue) and amosite (brown) South African asbestos mines: “The profits were not only good, they were also immense.” Today in derelict asbestos mining towns like Msauli former workers, local people and communities pay the price for the riches reaped by the historic exploitation of this known carcinogen. A government scheme set up to compensate workers is underfunded and cumbersome and “the public healthcare system is unable to cope with the growing demand for specialist respiratory and cancer treatment.” See: The forgotten cost of asbestos.

An interactive map compiled by the Asbestos Information CIC identifying asbestos contamination and the incidence of asbestos cancer constituency-by-constituency was uploaded last week. According to the research: “there are at least 150 million asbestos items hidden in public buildings across the UK.” Campaigners are calling on the Westminster government to support plans for a national asbestos database as part of a comprehensive program to eradicate the asbestos hazard from the built environment. See: Do you live in an asbestos hotspot? Interactive map reveals levels of deadly material in your area with one town's deaths EIGHT times higher than road traffic accidents.

In mid-March, a hearing was held in the Flemish parliament regarding the responsibilities of former asbestos producers. Unsurprisingly, Eternit, Belgium’s “Asbestos Giant,” argued vociferously against the proposed imposition of a mandatory obligation for polluters to pay for remediation efforts needed as a result of their historic processing of asbestos. It has been estimated that it would cost 100 million euros a year for twenty years to remove Eternit asbestos from Flemish territory. The company rejected these requests as “disproportionate.” In response, members of the Environment Committee passed a resolution seeking legal advice on government options. See: Vlaamse meerderheid en oppositie willen asbestproducenten meer laten betalen [Flemish majority and opposition want asbestos producers to pay more].

On March 31, 2025, US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) $10 billion proposal to settle tens of thousands of cancer lawsuits alleging that asbestos in J&J’s talc-based baby powder had caused ovarian and other cancers. This was the third time J&J’s bankruptcy strategy was kicked out of a Texas court. According to plaintiffs’ lawyer Andy Birchfield, J&J’s “bankruptcy strategy was nothing more than a bad-faith maneuver to avoid full accountability.” “With this ruling,” Birchfield added, “we are now moving forward without delay to trial, where our clients will finally have the chance to present their cases before a jury and obtain the justice they deserve.” See: US judge rejects J&J’s US$10 billion baby powder settlement.

A catalog of recent developments are suggestive of major problems at Russia’s second largest asbestos conglomerate: Uralasbest. On March 10, the company announced that the workforce would be put on a three-day week to save money on labor costs. Reacting to this news, panicked Uralasbest employees, already on minimum wage, told reporters that their income could decrease by a further 30%. Many were “seriously considering quitting.” Just a few days after the Uralasbest bombshell had exploded, the company announced that it was abandoning the three-day week in the face of employee “dissatisfaction.” The press service of Uralasbest declined to comment further. [Read full article]

After an eight-year wait, Brazilian and international asbestos watchers were optimistic that the Supreme Court’s (STF’s) definitive ruling on the illegality of asbestos exports would be handed down by March 14. As has happened so many times before, the delivery of an STF asbestos decision was upended. This time, the impasse was caused by Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, an appointee of the disgraced former President Jair Bolsonaro. Marques said he needed more time to consider the arguments of case ADI 6200. As he has been a STF Judge since November 5, 2020, one wonders why he had not found time to study the case files? There might be 103,000,000 reasons for this. [Read full article]

Two initiatives have come to the fore recently highlighting the human, environmental and ecological tragedy which has befallen Slovenia's picturesque Soča Valley. From 1921, this area was the heartland of the country's asbestos-cement industry with a sucession of companies routinely exposing thousands of workers and residents to carcinogenic asbestos fibers. A great debt is owed to author/researcher Jasmina Jerant and documentary photographer and filmmaker Manca Juvan who cast fresh eyes over an old scandal. Using their unique talents, they succeded in thrusting vital questions onto local, national and international agendas and once again forced us to question the compromises ordinary people are forced to make to provide for their families. [Read full article]

Brazilian asbestos, banned at home, continues to poison millions of people in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe etc. whilst simultaneously enriching Brazilian stakeholders. In 2023, international sales of Brazilian asbestos were worth $103,000,000, making Brazil the world’s 2nd largest exporter. Deadlines published by the Supreme Court (STF) for ending the legal limbo in which exports of this prohibited substance continued were inexplicably postponed in August and October 2024. On the eve of STF proceedings which could end the constitutional impasse, global campaigners issued a press release urging the Court to end this “immoral and unjustifiable double standard.” [Read full article]

There is a special place in hell reserved for the panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which on November 27, 1991 derailed an incipient US ban on asbestos. The knock-on effect of the verdict was that asbestos use remained legal for another 33 years, creating yet more asbestos victims. It was with a pronounced sense of déjà vu that on Friday, February 21, 2025 I learned that the same court had acceded to demands from the Trump administration to pause implementation of a 2024 national asbestos ban. Under the administration of Republican President George W. Bush the asbestos cancer risk to Americans was ignored in 1991; knowing what we do about Donald Trump, is it likely that the outcome will be different this time around? [Read full article]

A statement issued on February 13th conveyed news of yet another win by Indonesian campaigners against asbestos vested interests. After six months of hearings, motions and deliberations, Chief Judge of the Central Jakarta District Court Marper Pandiangan threw out legal arguments by the asbestos manufacturers association (FICMA) which had sought huge damages from civil society groups following a March 2024 Supreme Court ruling mandating warning labels for asbestos roofing products. FICMA has until the middle of March to file an appeal. [Read full article]

News that the Republic of Moldova banned asbestos late last year must have sent a seismic shock to asbestos producers in Russia and Kazakhstan. Although Moldova had in recent years consumed little or no asbestos – in 2022 Moldova imported a mere $16,400 worth of asbestos, 80% of which came from Russia – the elimination of yet another national market will almost certainly intensify the high level of anxiety being experienced by asbestos stakeholders. Throughout the region, asbestos markets are looking increasingly unstable with mounting challenges of pro-asbestos rhetoric and growing awareness among national governments of the high costs being incurred by society for industry profits. [Read full article]

In the run-up to the glitzy 2025 awards season which sees recognition for stars of stage and screen, the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) is acknowledging impactful work of a different kind. Winners of the Screen Actors Guild, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe and Critics Choice receive imposing and tasteful statuettes to mark their successes. Not so the “winners” of the IBAS Devil’s Dust Awards 2025 whose ruthless promotion of an acknowledged carcinogen and/or suppression of victims’ rights have earned them a rather revolting accolade: a virtual avatar appropriately nicknamed the Lucifer. With so many potential candidates, it was hard to chose this year’s “winners.” The entities named in this years Dishonors List come from Brazil, France & Indonesia. Want to know more? Read on. [Read full article]

As recently as 2020, Russia was the world’s leading supplier of asbestos, accounting for 65% of global output. A mere three years later this figure had fallen to 48% with Russian producers facing falling demand and increasing competition. In the December 2024 newsletter produced by Uralasbest, Russia’s second biggest asbestos conglomerate, its General Director explained that among the challenges the company faced in 2024 were bureaucratic hurdles and logistical obstructions – i.e. persistent and continuing disruptions to asbestos cargo rail shipments. What he failed to mention, however, was the progress being achieved by global campaigners which has “significantly reduced the possibility of exporting chrysotile asbestos… [and created] the crisis faced by asbestos-producing businesses.” [Read full article]

Against the backdrop of a continuing decrease in global asbestos consumption, work to quantify and address toxic industrial legacies was continued this year by grassroots campaigners, civil society stakeholders, national, regional and international authorities. Amongst high-profile topics debated in multiple jurisdictions were the asbestos contamination of schools, water delivery systems and the built environment; the risks posed by asbestos in personal hygiene products and cosmetics; and the unregulated and unsafe dumping of asbestos waste. Technological developments and the building of infrastructure by asbestos stakeholders made manifest their intention to continue profiting from asbestos sales despite the health hazards. It is clear that despite our many successes, much work remains to be done. [Read full article]

In light of many positive comments he has made over the last 30+ years about the efficacy of asbestos – eg. “asbestos is the greatest fireproofing material ever used” – international campaigners have been discussing what the new Presidency of Donald Trump could mean for the global asbestos dialogue. Two US experts consulted by the author of this article felt that given the small amount of asbestos used in the US now and the pending abolition of most uses, Trump would have little interest in attacking the new asbestos prohibitions being introduced. One can but hope. [Read full article]

Last week, global ban asbestos groups issued a joint press release in defence of Indonesian activists at the Independent Consumer Protection Institute (LPKSM), the Yasa Nata Budi Foundation and the Indonesian Ban Asbestos Network (INABAN) working to protect the population from deadly exposures to asbestos. In a blatant disregard for occupational and public health, the Fiber Cement Manufacturing Association – a powerful and well-resourced trade association representing the interests of the asbestos industry – is suing the campaigners for “massive damages” after a Supreme Court ruling upheld their petition to mandate labelling on asbestos products. [Read full article]

Mobilization on the asbestos hazard has been ongoing in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories for a number of years with work by personnel from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme and partnering organizations bringing positive results, such as the 2024 ban on asbestos imports and use in the Republic of Nauru (gazetted on October 10 and 30, respectively). Significant developments in protecting populations from deadly asbestos exposures have also been achieved in Niue, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In the shadow of the UN’s 29th Climate Change Conference, it is clearer than ever that asbestos technology is neither sustainable nor acceptable and must be banned. [Read full article]

The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) was founded in November 1999 by Laurie Kazan-Allen in collaboration with colleagues in North and Latin America, Asia, Europe and Australia to achieve justice for the injured and coalesce the global fight to ban asbestos. Over the next 25 years, this virtual consortium of activists organized, sponsored or participated in events and initiated or supported projects to achieve these objectives on six continents. The article marking IBAS’ 25th anniversary recalled the challenges faced, the memories amassed, the victories achieved and the setbacks faced. Input from global ban asbestos campaigners included in this review delineated the “IBAS Effect” as they experienced it. [Read full article]

On November 19 & 20, 2024, delegates from Southeast Asia, Australia and Japan convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a meeting organized by the Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), its international and local partners. At the completion of the event, a joint press release was issued calling on the Malaysian Government “to urgently impose an outright ban on all types of asbestos products being manufactured in the country and halt any further imports of chrysotile asbestos fibre.” According to Malaysian trade union official David Arul, asbestos use “persists in several Malaysian industries, exposing countless workers to preventable harm.” [Read full article]

Some might think that the holding last month (October 2024) of a meeting in Russia to progress peace and stability amongst nations belonging to the BRICS coalition might be deemed inappropriate given Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine. Nevertheless, representatives of 35 countries and 6 international organizations turned up in droves to the 16th annual BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. The participants were addressed by President Putin who spoke of “mutual respect,” “open dialogue,” and “sovereign policies.” A mysterious article, which appeared and disappeared after a few hours, however, revealed that Russia’s motivation for the creation and support of BRICS was totally self-serving, citing its importance in expanding foreign markets for home-grown asbestos. [Read full article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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